Appliances - Will a vitamix work in Bali??

Jade

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum, have been following for some time as my partner and I are relocating to Bali at the end of the year. Have been reading all the very informative posts on here, but still have some general questions so would love any guidance you can provide. My first question is about appliances. We live in Australia currently, we wont be bringing much with us except for the bare essentials but I was wondering if I should bring my blender. I have a vitamix blender, those from Aus will know that these are high powered industrial style blenders (I use to make nut butters for example), just wondering if this will work in Bali as I have read that some appliances don't work as well there? Just reluctant to part with this as it was about $1000 and I use it everyday here! If not, are there good blenders available to buy in Bali (ones that you can make flour from scratch, smoothies etc)? Thanks everyone!

Markit

Welcome to the forum and Bali. If you are just bringing the one beloved machine then give it a go. Worst that can happen is it pops all your fuses and/or won't get enough power to go - this is what happens with many high wattage devices brought from abroad due to the low power delivery of PLN. You most probably won't get a replacement here for the same reasons.

davita

Hi Jade and welcome to the forum I just checked our PLN (electric company) supply to the plug used for this computer and it was 222Volts AC and steady. I wouldn't think you mixer was any problem depending on the accommodation you plan to use. Older houses may have substandard power feeds. If you check the label and tell us the range of volts and wattage or amps consumed we may have more helpful points...but I wouldn't hesitate to bring the item.

Jade

Thanks for the help guys, its a 240V I believe. I think I will give it a go, with bringing large items like this, can I pack in my suitcase and bring on the plane with me when we make the move? We are only going to be bringing ourselves and clothes etc with us, so this will most likely be the only electrical item we bring.

DenpasarHouse

Hi Jade, you might have trouble at customs when bringing it in. They might want you to pay a customs fee on it, but if you insist that you'll be taking it with you when you leave you should be OK.

spicyayam

I bought a coffee machine in Australia and just brought it in my carry on without the packaging and didn't have a problem. The same model is around 5 times the price in Bali. It works fine also on our electric supply.

Jade

Ok well I think my blender will be too big for carry on, I will give it a go bringing it in and hope for the best I think.

spicyayam

I can tell you our coffee machine is not small, but somehow I managed it. I do remember it was heavy and awkward to carry with all of our other stuff. But in the end worth the hassle.

tcollins

Are there any other common appliances that people would recommend bringing with you as they are hard to find/ expensive in Bali?

moondogy

What's eating you this morning....get a life Markit..... this is so condescending.

Normy

Probably bintang for breakfast!

Markit

moondogy wroteWhat's eating you this morning....get a life Markit..... this is so condescending.

Oh well I guess parody is also a misunderstood art which, frankly, I thought you asked for with your " ([I] I am female and dont understand the ins and outs of electricity so this is very non-technical info![/I])". If you choose to use your gender as a crutch then don't be surprised when people treat you like a cripple. Have a day! P.S. It was meant as a joke.

moondogy

Several things......all you will need to do is change the power plug...to the 2 prongs we have here, or use a wall adaptor. Thats easy. But look and see how many Watts it is....if its 500-600w thats probably ok. I have just looked at a new blender here coz our Electrolux one died...it was 500W....but most sold here are only 350-400...not that powerful and they wont crush ice. Commercial ones are available ofcourse but more expensive. The problem is how many Watts your house has in total to use at any one time ( I am female and dont understand the ins and outs of electricity so this is very non-technical info!)....however, what I do know that in the morning, if you plug in your electric jug, put on the toaster and the blender, have the air con on and the TV, few lights etc ,.....the total amount of amps/watts?/ adds up very quickly and your entire house will shut down......so it is a consideration of how many and how powerful your appliances are. Sometimes Less is More in Bali! We have 15,000 watts here which I think is high for a Bali property, but I still consider the wattage on anything we buy new. Re equipment to bring with you, most appliances available here at similar prices to Aust but good quality saucepans and good quality cutlery are VERY expensive....so maybe think about that. Frypans and wok are cheap but good quality stainless is MAHAL. Good Luck!

Markit

Well... little lady you really shouldn't be muddling your pretty curly head about stuff outside of the kitchen or bedroom but I'll try and explain it in small numbers to make it easier for you girls to understand, OK here goes. Say you have a big old house with 10 watts available and you have a nasty old air conditioner that needs 2 watts in each of your 3 lovely, frilly bedrooms. Right there that's .... quick calculator or fingers .... 6 whole watts used when all 3 are running (sorry to muddle you up, but most devices use even more when they start up but then settle down later - golly, kinda like that big old bear of a husband). So just keep adding all those wonderful labor-saving machines that you probably don't understand to the total and you can see pretty soon you are gonna run out of Watts (James to his friends) and that's when it all goes dark. You silly little things probably haven't understood one word I've written so just ask the man of the house to explain it slowly to you. You really shouldn't worry your pretty little heads about it if there's meals to cook and cloths to wash, now should you? (Iron pants with flame retardant gel firmly in place)

Adam

Markit wroteOh well I guess parody is also a misunderstood art which, frankly, I thought you asked for with your " ([I] I am female and dont understand the ins and outs of electricity so this is very non-technical info![/I])". If you choose to use your gender as a crutch then don't be surprised when people treat you like a cripple. Have a day! P.S. It was meant as a joke.

Jokes are fine, the problem is you're rarely funny.

balibule

If its a costly machine then get a voltage stabilizer as well. Voltage here goes up-and-down like a yo-yo and shortens the life of electronics.

Markit

Adam wroteJokes are fine, the problem is you're rarely funny.

Adam you are a complete waste of time on this forum. You contribute nothing of any content and simply give proof that academic achievement (presuming yours is real) has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. I don't want you to think that you in any way bother or upset me, although that seems to be you sole purpose in writing anything here, it just seems sad that you don't spend your time making a positive addition here and I question what motivates someone to be such a useless member of any forum. I really wonder. Your time would be much better spent picking your nose rather than harking back to the good old days when you regularly sucked Roy's ego for him. He's gone and so should you be.

tcollins

Thanks for that. I have seen that in many of the real-estate ads they mention the power capacity of places and only just figured out why this would be on there :) Is there a certain level that I should be looking for? I am assuming that air conditioners are going to be the biggest power hogs in any home, so wanted to know is there something to look out for?

davita

tcollins wroteThanks for that. I have seen that in many of the real-estate ads they mention the power capacity of places and only just figured out why this would be on there :) Is there a certain level that I should be looking for? I am assuming that air conditioners are going to be the biggest power hogs in any home, so wanted to know is there something to look out for?

They generally advertise the electrical capacity of the villa when it is adequate...if not advertised well worth asking right at the beginning of the inspection. Same as water supply. Most places are under-capacity because the original person wanted to save money. Over the years all electricity was subsidized.....but at a progressive level. This was not done by use....but an arbitrary subsidy given by capacity available....the lower the capacity available the cheaper the electricity costs. IMO anything lower than 4400 watts capacity will be limiting and power will need to be managed. I upgraded my 3 bed villa to 7700w (5A/Cs) and never have a problem....but it takes a while to get an upgrade and not all villas can be upgraded. There are 2 ways to pay for electrical supply. One is you get a monthly bill which will indicate the usage and rate applied and usually a standard admin fee. The other is pre-pay by a meter system. You buy vouchers by giving the meter reading. The computer will therefore know the rate to apply and (say) Rp 100,000 gives X watts while another meter, of higher capacity, will only give X- watts (less) Sometimes, villas have 2 phase supply...this usually entails half the villa runs on one phase (A) and the other half on phase (B).

Markit

One of my villas (3 bedrooms) has 4kW and the other has 3.5. (2 bedroom) Both have bedrooms with AC and swimming pools (large) that have power hungry pumps. Living by the ocean we seldom need the AC but visitors tend to use them 24/7 whether they are in the rooms or not. Neither villa has ever run out even when everything was running. When Davita says it was cheaper to build so then that isn't quite true - it cost the same to put in wiring for 3.5 as it does for 7.7kW but be careful as the PLN want to put in a 3 phase transformer if they have a Bule paying - I think this helps only PLN supply all others in the area and you pay for the installation. Other than that can't think why everyone need so much power. I've met people with a 3 bedroom villa and 10kW - the price is all graded according to what level you are taking: 900W (locals) 3.5 (locals and us) 4.4 (only us or business) etc.